Pa. Supreme Court rules AG now has oversight over cases Philly DA wants to overturn 

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state's Office of the Attorney General will now have oversight over cases Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner tries to overturn.

The ruling stems from a case involving Lavar Brown, who was found guilty of the murder of Michael Richardson in 2004.

In 2005, another Philadelphia jury found Brown guilty of the murder of Robert Crawford.

Brown sought relief under Pennsylvania's Post Conviction Relief Act, known as the PCRA. His first attempt was denied. But the second time he sought relief, the DA's office agreed that Brown was entitled to a new trial.

But when family members of the victims heard, they asked the state's Supreme Court to intervene and review the concession.

In its decision, the Supreme Court reversed the order granting Brown a new trial.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday released a statement, saying:

"The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania exercised its King's Bench jurisdiction to review the case. The Court held that the DAO's concession was not reliable, as it had failed to disclose material evidence, submitted a false stipulation, misrepresented facts, and opposed a required evidentiary hearing."

The court is also now calling for oversight from the attorney general's office when the Philadelphia DA's office reconsiders a conviction.

The opinion stated, "Our duty to safeguard justice compels us to order that in all PCRA cases in which the DAO concedes relief, the PCRA court shall afford the OAG notice and the opportunity to intervene before ruling on the concession."

The ruling explained that the independent assessment and participation of the attorney general's office will enhance the reliability of the proceedings.

The opinion also put DA Krasner on blast.

It states, "Again and again, the DAO has made unreliable concessions unsupported by the facts and law. And when conceding relief, the DAO has repeatedly lacked candor to the court, misrepresented facts, failed to conduct adequate investigations, and inexplicably dodged necessary evidentiary hearings."

In a two-minute video, Krasner responds to the ruling.

"Obviously, it doesn't help with freedom. If what you're doing is taking an office that historically, both officially and in terms of its current personnel, stood against overturning convictions almost all the time. No, it doesn't help democracy. It doesn't help safety. It doesn't help freedom," Krasner said.

The opinion also stated that since 2018, the district attorney's office has conceded relief at least 120 times, mostly in murder cases like Brown's.

"There have been numerous instances of untrustworthy concessions, lack of candor, misrepresentations of fact, lack of adequate investigation, and avoidance of hearings. And the problems are poised to continue," the ruling stated.